1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvement on an optical apparatus having a function of detecting a visual axis which is provided with a visual axis detecting means for detecting a rotation angle of an optical axis of an eyeball of the user who looks a field of view in a finder as well as detecting the visual axis of the user on the basis of said detected rotation angle.
2. Related Background Art
Various kinds of optical apparatus for detecting which position in an observed area an observer observes; that is, detecting a visual axis (or a stared point) have been proposed, including an eye camera and a photographing apparatus which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Appln. Laid-Open No. 1-241511. For example, in Japanese Patent Appln. No. 4-167014 there is disclosed an optical apparatus which has a visual axis detecting means as a part of a finder system and performs various kinds of photographing operation by utilizing data of a visual axis obtained by said visual axis detecting means.
In this kind of apparatus, it is very difficult to simplify the entire apparatus and, at the same time, to detect the visual axis of the photographer who looks into the field of view in a finder with high precision in order to perform photographing operation. For example, if the photographer wears glasses having high surface reflectance, a ghost image caused by reflected light from the glasses reduces precision of detection. Also, if the eyeball is illuminated with a light beam from an highly luminous object (a light source, the sun, and so on) in the field of view in a finder, the reflected light beam from the eyeball reduces precision of detection.
Accordingly, when various kinds of photographing operation are performed on the basis of visual axis data by the above-mentioned camera having the visual axis detecting means, data of the visual axis may be inexact, and sometimes, data can not be obtained at all. In this case, the photographing operation is not performed according to the wishes of the photographer and desired images can not be obtained.